Francisco J. Ayala: Scientist, Humanist and Friend
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/ryf.vol288.i1464.y2024.008Keywords:
neutral evolution, phylogeny, molecular clock, science and religion, biological ethicsAbstract
Francisco J. Ayala was a dominant figure in evolutionary biology from the mid 20th through the first two decades of the 21st century. The purpose of this article is to try to place his work into the larger context of evolutionary biology and to briefly consider his important contributions to the philosophy of biology, including reconciling biological evolution and religion and his writings on the evolution of ethics. Another amore personal purpose is to recount his influence on me and on a whole generation of evolutionary geneticists. To achieve these twin purposes, I place his work into the larger historical context with a focus on his early work providing rigorous empirical tests of the hypothesis of neutral gene evolution in 1970s. I try to give some flavor for the human being behind an incredible body of work and to explicate some of the forces that may have influenced his development.
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